David Simon among witnesses tomorrow at Senate's "future of journalism" hearing

Pete Incaviglia · May 15, 2009

Not sure anyone posted it anywhere else, but here's the transcript of Simon's testimony:

http://reclaimthemedia.org/journalistic_practice/wire_creator_david_simon_testi0719

doggieseatdoggies · May 16, 2009

So what if anything has come out of this?

Just what I thought.

Baltimoreguy · May 19, 2009

Funny sideshow in Baltimore today, revealing again what a thin skin Simon has, and how much he hates The Baltimore Sun.

First, The Sun's local political and social gossip column had an item twitting Simon and his wife, mystery writer Laura Lippman.

Laura Lippman was just on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, promoting her new book, Life Sentences. Ferguson asked if she sees much of another famous Baltimorean, John Waters.

"Yeah, well, I'll tell the story because it was outed in the newspaper," she said. "We tried to keep it secret. John Waters was my minister. He married us."

"Us" being Lippman and Wire creator David Simon. Ferguson needed a moment to get over his shock, but it's true: The Pope of Trash is a man of the cloth, ordained by the Universal Life Church, an outfit that sells minister's licenses by mail order. Then Lippman went on.

"And he asked us to keep it a secret - but some nosy reporter went and looked up our marriage license down at the courthouse - because he doesn't want to marry anyone who calls up and asks."

Full disclosure: I'm the nosy reporter. While I appreciate the shout-out, I must note that Lippman and Simon are both former Baltimore Sun reporters who presumably nosed into a few things in their day. Simon is always bemoaning the decline of good ol' shoe-leather journalism. I schlepp down to the courthouse and pull a public record, and his wife calls me nosy?

Besides, if you want to keep your marriage on the QT, perhaps a flamboyant wedding officiant is not the way to go. Word gets around. Particularly if the minister happens, at the time, to be starring as The Groom Reaper on a Court TV show about marriages that go murderously wrong. And the bride, groom and preacher are just about the biggest names in town.

Nevertheless, Lippman did try to keep the whole thing hush-hush for some reason, declining to comment when I contacted her in April 2007. But if the secrecy was for Waters' sake, somebody forgot to tell Waters. The director was more than happy to chat about his marriage-making when I called back then, though he wouldn't say whom he'd hitched and made it clear he only marries close friends.

Waters talked about how he'd started tying knots. (He was asked to unite Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder while filming his 1990 film Cry-Baby, though they never ended up getting hitched.) About how much he charges. (Seven dollars. "And you have to have exact change.") About how he takes it seriously. ("I even counseled the couples.")

Does that sound like a guy trying to keep his sideline secret?
Click to expand...

And today Simon spouts off with a letter to the editor:

It is reassuring to know that despite the cutbacks in coverage, The Sun can still have journalists such as Laura Vozzella working on years-old matrimonal items involving local semi-notables ("Call me nosy - Laura Lippman did, on TV," May 17). The Sun's priorities rival those diligent crew members who achieved much with the Titanic's deck furniture in the vessel's closing moments.

Also, Ms. Vozzella's column was unnecessarily skeptical about our reasons for declining publicity regarding a private ceremony. We were specifically asked by John Waters not to make mention of his services as he does not wish to be engaged often as a minister. Until The Sun made the matter known, we honored the request; the fact that Mr. Waters, upon being queried, was more forthcoming did not, in our minds, absolve us of our promise. That Ms. Vozzella continues to deny the ethic of giving and keeping one's word, choosing instead to see a hypocrisy of ex-reporters declining to offer up their personal life is, well, intellectually embarrassing.

Laura Lippman covered poverty and Baltimore County for The Sun. I covered criminal justice issues as part of a projects team. Neither the poverty beat nor the projects team now exists, and the Baltimore County bureau has moved downtown and is a shell of itself. Yes, we were once prying reporters, but for purposes that make a farce not only of Ms. Vozzella's pursuits but also of her equivocal claims of hypocrisy.

David Simon, Baltimore
Click to expand...

The kicker is that The Sun ran Simon's entire letter in today's op-ed section. And Vozzella quoted a sizable chunk of it as item in her column today -- which appears immediately opposite the reader letters. Maybe this kind of mixup wouldn't happen if the Sun hadn't laid off five-sixths of the editorial page staff.

FileNotFound · May 19, 2009

David Simon comes off sounding a bit like the kind of sanctimonious prick that he would have skewered back in his journalism days.

Frylock · May 19, 2009

Who cares about his on-going war with the Sun?
I thought his testimony was spot-on. Isn't that a little more important?

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David Simon among witnesses tomorrow at Senate's "future of journalism" hearing

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David Simon among witnesses tomorrow at Senate's "future of journalism" hearing

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